All Hearts Come Home For Christmas
by darveysecretsanta2018
Summary: A not-so-random draw of names puts Harvey and Donna together to organize the firm's Christmas party. Set in early S5.


**Prompt by laura ( frenchdarvey)**: (Pre-canon, 5A, months after Donna leaves Harvey) Louis throws a firm Christmas party in hopes Darvey, who barely talk, would reconcile; random draw of names to see who will be organising the party has Darvey having to work together as a team and spend several late evenings at the firm/each other's place planning it (bonus: it is revealed Louis only put their names in the draw)

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It was a snowy Monday morning when they all arrived to work with a text from Louis, telling everyone to meet in front of the elevators at 10 o'clock. He had an announcement to make.

Donna was the first one to get there with Louis since he had dragged her with him ten minutes before the arranged time.

The moment the clock struck ten, she spotted Harvey coming from his office. It had been two months since she had left him to go work for Louis and, even though she had hoped that time would heal their wounds, they had barely been speaking to each other since that night. The night she told him she loved him but ran away before he could say anything. Donna hadn't regretted her choice, she knew that Harvey probably wouldn't have said it back, at least not in the way she needed him to.

For as much as she cared about him, she knew in her heart he wasn't ready for her, he wasn't ready for them to be together. However, the fact that they hadn't been able to move on properly and that he had started treating her like a stranger was still making her heart ache.

Once Harvey arrived near the elevators and leaned on the front desk, he shifted his gaze towards Donna, sharing a quick glance with her, right before Louis started speaking.

"Good morning everyone and thank you for being here. I asked you all to come because I wanted to let you know, Pearson Specter Litt is throwing a Christmas Party this year!" he started, showing how excited he was for the first holidays as a name partner, "I know we all have a lot on our plates these days so I've decided to let fate decide who will organize the party." As the words left his mouth, he pulled out a draw from behind him.

"Let's see who will do the honors this year, shall we?" Louis cheerfully said as he picked the first name out of the ballot box. He opened the small piece of paper and a wide smile appeared on his face, "Harvey Specter!".

Harvey's facial expression immediately turned annoyed - Louis had got to be kidding him. As if the tough case he was facing with Mike at the moment wasn't enough, he also had to deal with some stupid Christmas decorations.

But before he could complain, Louis read the name of the other person who was about to have his same misfortune, "Donna Paulsen."

Donna froze on the spot when she heard Louis saying her name. She loved Christmas, it had always been one of her favorites holidays and decorating the house with her mom used to make her heart happy. But at the moment, the perspective of spending hours with Harvey, picking out mistletoes and Christmas lights while they could barely say hello to each other was making her anxious.

She sensed they both must have felt the same way when she heard Harvey behind her, the moment she rushed to Louis.

"Is there any chance we can skip this and hire someone who could decorate the place for us?" Harvey practically begged the man.

"Uh-uh Harvey, I want this year's party to be special, I want it to feel like home. I don't want some strangers to plan it, you and Donna are the perfect duo for the job!".

Seeing that there was no way to make Louis change his mind, Donna turned around so that she and Harvey were face to face, and she started speaking, "I guess we're stuck in this."- together - she wanted to add but didn't, because somehow the word still didn't sound right near their names.

"I guess we are," Harvey replied with a soft smile, "What do you say we meet at the library tomorrow night after work?"

Donna paused for a second before answering, pondering whether being alone with Harvey late at night would be a good idea. But she didn't have much of a choice, they had to plan the party and maybe meeting at the firm would be better than spending the night at one of their places.

"Sounds good to me, Harvey. See you tomorrow night." she smiled back at him and made her way back to her desk, outside Louis's office, while Harvey walked back to his, flashing her old cubicle with a bitter look.

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It was half past eight the following night when Harvey and Donna decided to meet at the library and eat some take out from that shitty Thai place she loved before getting deep into "all about Christmas".

Donna had to admit, it had been awkward at the beginning. While eating their pad thai, the room had been filled with silence. They had been barely speaking for months and it felt like they had become estranged from each other's lives. Other than the gossip regarding the people of the firm, every name they tried to bring up, didn't ring any bell to the other. They had gone from spending twenty four hours twelve feet from each other every day to not knowing a single detail of each other's lives anymore.

All of that made Donna incredibly sad. Because she missed Harvey. She missed her best friend. And she hated that the only time she had decided to put herself first in all the years they had known each other, ended up drifting them far apart. She wasn't mad at Harvey though because, if she had to be honest with herself, it wasn't fair to put all the blame on him. She could have gone to him, she could have apologized and tried to fix things between them. But once again, their pride had got the better of them and there they were, two people who had been in each other's lives for more than a decade but now felt like they didn't know each other at all.

After they had finished their dinner and Harvey had moved the plates out of their way, they started brainstorming about venues and decorations. They decided they should pick a location first.

Donna got up from her chair to reach her purse and get her laptop, sitting next to Harvey right after. They started scrolling through some pictures of the Manhattan fancier locations until she heard him get up from his chair and reach behind her.

"What are you doing?" Donna asked as Harvey leaned in a little bit, just so that his hands were placed on the arms of her chair. "I'm sorry I just couldn't see anything from there."

Donna started feeling his breath on her neck and had to close her eyes for a second not to lose her mind because of their sudden proximity.

She tried to ease the situation by throwing in a joke, "You know, you should buy a pair of glasses."

"Harvey Specter doesn't do glasses." he replied to her as he kept staring at her computer screen.

"Why not? You could also grow a beard to pair them with… Oh my god." A sudden laugh escaped her mouth. "What?" he asked her, confused by her reaction.

"I just remembered there was this guy in college with me. He used to let his beard grow a bit and he always wore a pair glasses with a black frame. He was so handsome, I had a crush on him the second we met. I think you would look like him with glasses and a beard."

She didn't know why she was telling him that, they hadn't shared a word for two months and the first thing she talked to him about was her college sweetheart?

Harvey chuckled to himself at her admission and lowered his voice before replying, "Are you saying you would have a crush on me if I grew a beard and put glasses on?".

Donna felt a shiver down her spine. Was he flirting with her? It was not like they were not used to flirt at the office now and then, but it was the first time he was back at doing it since she had left him. Harvey had even used that tone - the one he had always reserved for her and her only and that had always turned her on instantly when she heard it.

However, Donna still didn't know how to respond to his move. She wasn't ready to flirt back, no matter how her body reacted to his question. She decided to shift back their attention on venues instead.

"Look at this one, it's amazing!" she almost yelled, causing Harvey to move a little further away from her.

He looked at the picture for a moment.

"Isn't that the location we used for the Pearson Darby gala years ago?" Harvey asked, still bitter at the memories of how he had almost betrayed Jessica, his mentor, back then.

"It is, and I know it doesn't remind us of great times, but still, look at it, Harvey, and imagine it all filled with snowflakes and Christmas lights… it could be," she paused for a moment and turned her head to look at him, "It could be perfect."

Harvey couldn't stop staring at her speaking. Her eyes were shining as she was picturing the room decorated for the party. She looked beautiful and, most of all, she looked happy. He hadn't seen that kind of smile on her face for months since they got into one of their biggest fights. And surely he wasn't going to be the one to take that joy away from her.

"I think we have our location then." Harvey smiled softly at her.

"We do," she smiled back, "shall we move to adornments now?"

For the following hour, as they went through all the decorations they needed to buy in order to make the place look like Santa's home, Harvey and Donna kept stealing glances from each other.

He couldn't help but notice the way she looked while scrolling through all the pictures, so focused on her task that the small vein she had on her forehead started pulsing a little more than usual. Harvey realized how much he had missed spending time with Donna. How much he had missed her.

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The next day, Harvey and Donna decided to take the morning off to go Christmas shopping for the party. As soon as they set foot inside Macy's, Donna started running around the store like a five year old in a candy shop. Harvey loved how much she enjoyed Christmas. He had never been a fan of the holiday, since all he remembered from his childhood were Christmas days spent in Boston on his own, not willing to spend time with his mother after his parents' divorce.

But ever since he had met Donna, he had learned to appreciate Christmas a little more. She made it feel special, as everything that involved her was to him.

"Harvey, come here!" he heard her yell from the other side of the store. He walked to where she was standing, only to catch her in front of a beautiful white Christmas tree. "I was thinking, this would look perfect in the corner of the venue." she told him, unable to hide her excitement.

"Aren't Christmas trees supposed to be green?" he replied, well aware he was going to heard it back from her for his comment.

"You're such a mood killer, you know that?" Donna moved right behind him, "Now, imagine the place. Christmas lights everywhere, the New York City moonlight lighting up the room through the wide windows, and this gorgeous tree in the left corner of the room. In one word, amazing."

"Yeah, I guess that could work." he simply replied, eliciting a soft groan from her. "Okay Scrooge, why don't you go find some decorations of your own?"

Ten minutes later, Donna spotted Harvey walking back towards her, hiding something behind his back.

"I found the perfect piece of decoration." he proudly said, as he revealed what he was covering up. He moved his hands from the box, only to show a beautiful necklace, made of diamonds shaped as small snowflakes. It was classy but perfect for Christmas at the same time.

Donna found herself at a loss for words. Harvey had always given her many presents, most of which she had bought for herself because he had always been a terrible gift giver, but this time it was different. They had just started talking again and for him to show up with such an amazing gift came as a huge surprise to Donna.

"Harvey… where did you even find that around here?"

"I know a place." he replied with a smile.

"You don't have to…" she mumbled, still struggling to come up with words.

"Look, consider this as a gift to tell you that I am sorry the last couple of months have been so tough for us," he started, "and that I am glad we are back on good terms now."

Donna wet her lips and softly smiled at him, before he continued, "Plus, it would look great with the red dress you'll pick. Because we both know you're going to wear red at the party."

Before Donna could reply to him, a shop assistant appeared from behind her, "I am so sorry to interrupt but I just wanted to tell you, you guys are such a cute couple. You're lucky your boyfriend knows you so well."

Donna's eyes grew wider at the assumption and she tried to make things clear, "Oh no, we're not -" but the woman quickly turned around, "I am sorry, I have been called to the storage but, I'll be around if you need anything. Merry Christmas!"

Harvey looked at Donna and tried to ease the tension and embarrassment that had filled the room, "I'm buying you this, Paulsen." and started walking towards the cassier.

They might not have been couple but the assistant was right about one thing, Harvey really did know her well, more than anyone else.

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Once they were done with their Christmas shopping, Harvey and Donna came back to the firm for the afternoon. They stepped out of the elevators to meet an excited Louis right in front of them.

"Oh thank god you're finally back." he said as he started following them through the halls of the firm.

"We told you we were going shopping for the party." Donna replied to him in a hurry, just wanting to go back to her desk and start dealing with the huge amount of work that was waiting for her.

"About the party, I have news, for the both of you."

Harvey rolled his eyes, as if he was already beginning to digest whatever other weird idea Louis might have come up with, "Please, tell me you're cancelling it."

"Don't be ridiculous, Harvey. I really want this party to be special, so, I arranged a Christmas photoshoot for tomorrow! I want our pictures all over the place at the venue." Louis announced while moving his hands around to give Harvey and Donna an idea of what he wanted to see on the night of the party.

"A what now?" Harvey replied with an annoyed look on his face.

"A Christmas photoshoot, and I am choosing the costumes so, be ready to get into the Christmas spirit tomorrow morning." Louis said while making his way towards his office.

"We're never gonna hear the end of this, are we?" Harvey asked shifting his gaze to Donna.

"Never." she laughed, "We better get ready for more."

And with that, she left to follow Louis's steps in order to get back to work.

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The next morning, they arrived at work to find out Louis had transformed the file room into a photoshoot set. A huge white backcloth was placed in the middle of the room, as a couple of photographers were setting their equipment in place.

Harvey and Donna arrived first, Louis immediately gave them the costumes he had picked and showed them the room where they could get changed.

Ten minutes later, they came back all dressed up. Donna was wearing a short red velvet dress, with white edges and a black belt. On her legs there were white knee high socks and a pair of red high heels on her feet. On top of all that, she was wearing a cute Santa hat.

As soon as Harvey spotted her, his jaw dropped to the floor. She looked stunning and sexy.

Donna had to admit Harvey didn't look so bad himself. Louis had chosen for him a red suit with white details that matched the edges of Donna's dress. And, of course, the same Santa hat she was wearing.

Before they could say anything about their costumes, Mike and Rachel entered the room. The puppy didn't waste a second before starting to mock his boss, "Look at you, such a cute old Santa."

"I would wait to see what Louis has picked for you before laughing, Mike." Harvey replied, well aware of what was waiting for him right around the corner.

Mike and Rachel came back fifteen minutes later, after having some issues with putting on their costumes.

The moment Mike entered the room, Harvey couldn't keep himself together, "Told you, you had no idea what was coming for you."

Louis had Mike and Rachel dressed up as a couple of elves. The puppy was wearing a red sweater, paired with green pants and a pair of elf shoes. And, of course, an elf hat on his head with pointy ears included. Rachel had a matching dress on, half red and half green, with a pair of red pumps and a hat that was similar to her boyfriend's.

Mike immediately flashed to Louis, "Why do I have to look like this while him," he pointed a finger at Harvey, "gets to wear a suit?"

"Do you think he would ever agree to wear an elfish look?" Louis replied, "But it was too cute, someone had to bring that costume to life."

"And it looks so nice on you, Mikey." Harvey joked, unable to hide his giggles.

The next one who had to change was Jessica. She put on a beautiful white gown to portray the ice queen. So classy and fabulous. In a nutshell, so Jessica.

Louis hurried to dress up right after her, coming back wearing a costume that looked like Santa Claus's but was blue instead of red.

"Who are you supposed to be, Louis?" Harvey immediately called him out.

"What do you mean who am I supposed to be, isn't it obvious?" the man replied, "I am Harry Hanukkah!"

Harvey shook his head at Louis's words, "Wait a second, you made us all wearing these stupid costumes and organize a party, and you don't even celebrate Christmas?!"

"I don't, but I wanted to do this because I know Christmas is an important holiday for you guys," he moved his eyes so that they met Donna's, "all of you."

Donna got closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, "It's okay Louis," she shifted his gaze to Harvey, flashing him an upset look, "We are going to make this special."

As the photographers finished setting up all of their equipment, Jessica took her pictures first, since she had to go to the courtroom right after, and Mike and Rachel followed suit, taking some cute couple shots.

Once they were done, the photographer called Harvey and Donna.

"Okay guys, it's your turn, why don't you get to the center of the set together?".

Harvey and Donna shared a confused look before getting back to the man, "What do you mean together?"

"Well, you are wearing matching costumes, those are made to appear in the same picture."

Trying to suppress all the embarrassment they were feeling, they moved to the marked spot and posed for the pictures. Donna was standing in front of Harvey, who had put on a fake smile, camera ready.

"C'mon guys, show me some love." the man encouraged them, seeing they weren't even touching.

Suddenly, Harvey placed his arms on Donna's waist, pulling her closer to him. Her body reacted immediately at his touch, moving her left hand so that it was resting on top of his. He hugged her tighter, his eyes fixated on her.

She felt his gaze the entire time, in ways that she had never experienced with anyone else.

They took a couple of shots before the photographer told them they were done.

"You two make a cute couple." the man said while Harvey and Donna moved away to let Louis reach his spot to get his pictures taken.

They looked at each other, the embarrassment clear on their faces. It was the second time in two days that someone had mistaken them for a couple.

"We are not together," Harvey replied with some hesitation, "We are just friends."

"I don't know about you, but I don't hold my friends like that." the man joked before placing the camera on the tripod.

Seeing Harvey was struggling to come up with a response to the assumption, Donna jumped in.

"We were just trying to stay in character," she said, gesturing to their costumes, "The way I see it, Mr. and Mrs. Claus are married."

"Yeah of course," the photographer tried to suppress a giggle. "Surely they're the only ones in this room who would want to jump on each other." he whispered before stepping away to have a look at their takes.

Donna's face turned red and all she wanted to do was putting her Rouland Mouret dress back on and go back to her desk. Luckily for her, Louis got his pictures taken pretty quickly and gave Harvey and Donna the file in order to pick the best ones to print for the party.

They decided they were going to choose the photos the following evening, at Harvey's.

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Harvey and Donna were sitting near the fireplace, her laptop placed on the small table in front of the sofa.

They chose Jessica's pictures first. It was easy since she only took a couple of shots, given she was in a rush. They decided to move to Louis's right after, sure they were going to have a great laugh looking at his pictures. Harvey let Donna pick out her favorites, before it was Mike and Rachel's turn.

Harvey and Donna both started staring at the pictures of their best friends, both overwhelmed by the feeling of love and affection that transpired from their faces and their smiles. They were both so happy the two most important people of their lives were living on cloud nine together.

The atmosphere got tense when they moved to their shots. Donna suddenly stopped scrolling when she saw a picture of them, staring deep into each other's eyes while leaning into their embrace. The same feeling of love they had sensed looking at Mike and Rachel's pictures was all over theirs too.

Yet, when Harvey and Donna looked at their faces through the computer screen, they both felt there was something more behind their eyes. They felt like there was a barrier between them, a barrier they just couldn't break down. But they wanted to, the willingness to be nearer was so clear in their eyes.

Donna suddenly felt frozen, she couldn't scroll to the next shot anymore. As soon as Harvey sensed she was in need of a little help, he tried to ease the tension the only way he knew, winding things up.

"You looked hot in that costume." he teased her with a huge grin.

Donna laughed, finally able to scroll through the pictures again, "You're an idiot."

"What? I would stop being naughty and start being a gentleman for a whole year if that meant I'd get to receive a gift from you dressed like that." he replied while pointing at the picture in front of them.

"We both know, you're anything but a gentleman Harvey."

She smirked at him as she was sure both their minds travelled back to a specific night that involved strawberries and whipped cream.

Harvey let out a loud cackle while shaking his head at her. Donna smiled, relieved that, no matter what had happened between them during the last few months and, especially, the last couple of days, their chips were still up when they were together.

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The time had passed pretty quickly and it was already the night before the party. Harvey and Donna had agreed to decorate the venue together and he had offered to pick her up on his way there.

They arrived at the place at eight o'clock and by ten they were almost done with the arrangements.

The only thing missing was the topper for the beautiful white Christmas tree Donna had ended up buying. Harvey had placed a ladder next to the tree and had helped her get on it, since Donna wanted to be the one to put the topper on.

Once she reached the perfect height, Harvey couldn't keep himself from staring under her dress.

Donna caught him and immediately called him out, "What do you think you're doing Harvey?"

"I'm sorry, it was right there, I had to," he mumbled through his laughs, "Plus, it's not like I haven't seen any of it before."

As soon as Donna spotted the smirk on his face, she wittily replied, "Just make sure I don't fall, Specter."

"You know I would catch you, Paulsen." he replied as she finished her task.

Donna stood still for a second, admiring the amazing work they had done from above.

Before she could say a word, she suddenly lost her balance, falling into Harvey's arms.

"I told you I'd catch you." he whispered softly.

Donna was feeling her heart beating out of her chest while his eyes were staring at her lips. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and they were only inches apart. Her hands pulled him closer without her even realizing what she was doing. Their lips were almost brushing against each other.

A moment passed but it felt like an eternity to them.

"Ehm, I'm sorry to interrupt but we are wrapping up for the night." the owner of the venue had appeared from the entrance, ruining their moment.

Harvey gently placed Donna back on her feet, even if her legs were still trembling, overwhelmed by the feeling of having almost reconnected with him.

"It's okay, we were just leaving." Harvey said as he placed his hand on Donna's back, guiding her towards the exit.

No one of them said a word about what happened. Or what would have happened if they had been alone a second more.

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The night of the party, Harvey arrived at the ballroom on time, noticing Louis, Mike and Rachel were already there. Rachel was wearing a lovely black satin dress and her hair was up in a ponytail. Her hand was intertwined with Mike's as Harvey approached them to greet them.

They barely had the chance to exchange a few words when Donna appeared at the entrance of the room. A beautiful velvet gown was hugging the curves of her body. The necklace he bought her was brightening her neckline, adorned by her fierce red curls. She was wearing red, just like he had guessed. She looked stunning, the most beautiful woman in the room.

As soon as she spotted her friends, she walked towards them.

"Wow Donna, you look amazing." Mike told her while greeting her with a soft peck on her cheek.

"Thank you, pretty boy. But look at your girlfriend, she's stealing the show tonight." Donna smiled at Rachel who squeezed her hand at the compliment.

Donna looked around to see once again how beautiful the place turned out to be. It was perfect, just like she had imagined it. And she still couldn't believe she and Harvey did all of that, together.

"You guys did an incredible job, this place is breathtaking." Louis complimented both Harvey and Donna while roaming his eyes around the ballroom.

"Thank you, Louis. It's been fun in the end." Harvey replied, looking at Donna.

"I'm glad. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go entertain some guests." Louis said before walking towards some of their oldest clients, leaving Mike, Rachel, Donna and Harvey to chat for a while.

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Harvey had been staring at Donna the entire night. His eyes were stuck on her, on the way she looked.

Sensational.

Spending time together again had made Harvey realize how much he wanted Donna in his life, how much he needed her. His feelings for her were finally clear in his mind and their almost kiss the night before had been the icing on the cake to push him to finally open his heart to her.

Once he had spotted her at the bar, alone, he made his way towards her. He didn't even give her the chance to acknowledge his presence before he started speaking.

"I don't know how to say it, so I'm just gonna come out and say it," he stopped for a moment, taking the courage he had been lacking his entire life, "I want you, Donna. I want every little thing about you."

Donna looked at him, the shock caused by his words visible in her eyes while they started roaming his face, already shiny of tears.

"The fact that you drink your latte without sugar, so that you can add extra cream. The way you tilt your head slightly to the left when you don't understand something. The way the small vein on your forehead pulses a little more when you're concentrated. The way you roll your beautiful eyes when I make a bad joke. The fact that you don't let anyone touch my balls," they both let out a chuckle at the same time at this point, "The way you've held me, without even touching me, when you gave me the news that my dad was gone. The way you have faith in me, like no one else has. The way you make me believe I deserve to be loved and make me want to love."

Harvey got closer to her and grabbed her hand, "It's a thousand tiny things that, when I added them up, made me understand that we should be together. And the truth is, deep down I've always known it, I've just been so scared to say it out loud."

Harvey took a deep breath before going on, "But just because it's Christmas and at Christmas you tell the truth… I love you, Donna. I knew it the minute I met you. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here."

Donna was overwhelmed by Harvey's words - and by the fact that he really quoted her favorite Christmas movie while finally admitting her feelings for her.

Before she could fully process his speech, Mike and Rachel grabbed their arms, dragging them to the dance floor.

Harvey took Donna into his arms and she just followed his lead, he had always been an excellent.

They danced to the tender notes of Harry Connick Jr.

"_My heart told me once before_

_To find my dream and search no more_

_And when my heart finds Christmas_

_I hope it finds you too."_

"Harvey…" Donna gently whispered, "I- I'm so scared of walking out of this room without you and never feel for the rest of my life the way I feel when I am with you."

Harvey looked deep into her eyes and let her words sink in, "Everything I've ever done since we met brought me back to you. We're messy and complicated, but we don't have to be perfect. We just have to be perfect for each other."

Donna smiled as she placed her hand on his cheek, "And you and me, Harvey Specter, were meant to be since our first hello."

Harvey grinned at her while squeezing her waist, "To be fair, you didn't even give me the chance to say hello the night we met."

"You're impossible," she shook her head while a soft smile met her lips, "And I love you too."

Harvey got closer to her, unable to unlock his gaze from hers, "You know, this moment would be a lot better if we had put a mistletoe above us."

Donna chuckled at his words, shifting her gaze to the floor for a second, before meeting his eyes again, "Would you just shut up and kiss me, Harvey?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, he closed the distance between them. As their lips reconnected after twelve years, so did their hearts. They both felt like everything had finally made sense. Because no matter how many people were in the room, or even on the planet, in the end, it had all come down to one.

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Mike, Rachel and Louis had left the dance floor and were looking at their friends, finally taking the most important step of their lives.

"It's funny how fate works sometimes, maybe if they hadn't been picked to organize this party, it would have taken them another decade to get together." Mike joked while sipping on his glass of champagne.

"Well, they might be meant to be together but fate has nothing to do with them setting up this party." Louis replied, showing a lot of pride with his words. "What do you mean?"

"I put their names only in the draw," he started, "We all knew these two had been in love with each other for years, they just needed a little push."

Mike smiled at the man, raising his glass for a toast, "Merry Christmas, Louis." "Merry Christmas, Mike."

And just like that, they all danced the night away, ready to face the next chapter of their lives, finally all together.


End file.
